Local woman and campaigner Rhoda Baillie (born Rhoda Gilder) features briefly in the Greenwich100 exhibition “Beyond the Suffragettes”. In this latest blog by Lynne Dixon, we learn more about Rhoda’s contributions to the local community following her move with her husband Roger Thorne Baillie (an explosives worker at the Arsenal) to the Well Hall Estate in 1915.

When Rhoda Baillie penned this letter to Dr Marion Phillips of the Consumers’ Council of the Ministry of Food on May 11th 1918 it is unlikely that she would ever have imagined that her letter would still be in existence and of interest a hundred years later.

Reproduced with kind permission of The Labour History Archive & Study Centre (LHASC)

Rhoda Baillie wrote to Phillips (who later became a Labour MP) on behalf of the Well Hall & Eltham Pioneer Circle to enquire about setting up a National Kitchen in Woolwich. National Kitchens were a means of providing reasonably priced food in local areas as food shortages continued to bite during the war. It was a scheme started by Lord Spencer of the Food Ministry and implemented by local authorities. Woolwich would have seemed an ideal place for such a kitchen and the nearest one appeared to be across the Thames on North Woolwich Road, Silvertown.

This was just one of the ways in which Rhoda and other members of the Pioneer Circleengaged in social and political issues back in 1918. Although we do not know exactly how many women were members of this group, originally set up to support the Labour Party and its newspaper The Pioneer, it has been possible to find out about the inspirational activities of at least some of them. The letter above is held in the archives of the People’s History Museum, Manchester, but locally there are many references to the activities of the women and the names of key members in The Pioneer newspaper itself (The Pioneer is available to read at Greenwich Heritage Centre in Woolwich).

The Pioneer Circle, initially the Well Hall Pioneer Circle, was set up in 1916, only a few months after the Estate was completed. Rhoda Baillie who lived at 34, Prince Rupert Road in Eltham played a key role in it as the secretary and as the host of many of its regular meetings. Members tackled a diverse range of topics, with talks usually introduced by one of the women members followed by animated discussions.

They organised outings including one to the innovative Rachel MacMillan outdoor nursery in Deptford and held events in the grounds of Well Hall Manor. In the summer they often met outdoors in Avery Hill Park. Many of the topics would have had immediate relevance to the lives of women: education was discussed, including the need for a local school so children did not have to walk to one of the two existing local ones; housing was discussed at several meetings; health issues were also covered, including the problems associated with Venereal Disease (something which caused much concern during the war); women and the vote was a topic on at least one occasion; and of course food – food shortages, food prices and communal kitchens.

In 1917 the Pioneer Circlesent two of its members to the Woolwich Labour Food Conference. Ongoing discussions arising from this conference may have prompted Rhoda to write to Dr Marion Phillips. In her reply, Phillips referred to literature that she would receive from the Department and suggested Rhoda and her colleagues organize a Deputation to Woolwich Borough Council. There are no known records yet of any Deputation but we do know that no National Kitchen was established in Woolwich. Perhaps the moment had passed as the end of the war drew near.

So far it has only been possible to catch glimpses of Rhoda in official documents after the end of the war: Along with many other women, she exercised her right to vote, and appeared on the Electoral Roll (in 1939) and there is a record of her death in 1965. There are no direct descendants – but how wonderful to have a record of Rhoda and the Well Hall & Eltham Pioneer Circle through the letter she wrote back in 1918.

The inspiring story of the women’s suffrage pilgrimage across Blackheath in 1913

Greenwich100 researcher Lynne Dixon tells the inspiring story of the arrival of the women’s suffrage pilgrimage at Blackheath in 1913.

It is July 1913. A dry cool morning on Blackheath. Imagine a group of women on the heath near the tea hut dressed for walking, wearing sashes and carrying banners; an array of scarlet, white and green.

This is part of the Women’s Suffrage Pilgrimage, the Kentish contingent to be exact, formed of two branches which had started at Margate and Sandwich, joining at Tonbridge. It is the morning of Friday 26th July, the day before the national rally in Hyde Park which will bring together women suffragists from across the country. These women – all members of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) – had been organised in six main marches, the ones from the north having started out in mid June.

In spite of the fact that they were marching as suffragists – the law-abiding and non-militant part of the women’s suffrage movement – some had faced verbal and even physical abuse on the way (Robinson, 2018). Fortunately, the Kent marchers had been relatively unaffected as they marched from Sevenoaks.

Twenty two Kent pilgrims had arrived at Burnt Ash Road, Lee, on the previous day and had formed into a procession with the Blackheath branch of the NUWSS. With their banners unfurled – ‘“Home makers demand vote”, “Law abiding women”, “Joan of Arc”, and the like’ (The Mercury) – the forty or so women were accompanied by the Stepney Borough Band. They marched towards Whitfield Mount on Blackheath – a popular place for local suffragist meetings – where two platforms had been set up, and held an open-air meeting. After the meeting the pilgrims would have stayed overnight in cheap lodging houses or with local society members.

The pilgrims and their supporters set off the following day down Blackheath Hill, through Deptford Broadway and on to New Cross Gate, which they reached by noon. At the foot of Pepys Road they gathered for another meeting and this time we know the name of the two speakers. One was Muriel Matters who had been involved in the movement since her arrival in England from Australia in 1905. By 1913 Matters had already engaged in high profile activities for the cause, including chaining herself to the grille in the women’s gallery above the House of Commons; distributing leaflets from an airship across London, and travelling through Kent and Sussex in a caravan on a Women’s Freedom League speaking tour (Crawford, 2001).

Muriel Matters in Guilford, Surrey in 1908 during a Women’s Freedom League caravan tour
(The Women’s Library Collection, LSE Library). The use of caravans was also a feature of the
1913 Pilgrimage although apparently not in Kent.

As the pilgrims continued on their way for the next even larger gathering at the King’s Hall, Elephant and Castle, they were joined by band of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Workers. They must have garnered much attention.

The final destination was a wonderful gathering of about fifty thousand people – at Hyde Park on the afternoon of the Saturday. There were nineteen platforms arrayed in the park with rousing speeches, including one by the NUWSS President Millicent Garrett Fawcett.

The Kent pilgrims and their supporters contributed to making the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Pilgrimage a great success for the NUWSS and it strengthened the hands of the suffragists in their ongoing negotiations with Asquith’s government.

References

Crawford, E (2001) The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 – 1928 (Routledge, London)
Robinson, J (2018) Hearts and Minds: The Untold Story of the Great Pilgrimage and How Women Won the Vote (Doubleday, London)

Information about the local march obtained from local newspapers at Greenwich Heritage Centre:

…..the 1918 Representation of the People Act became law. All men and some women gained the right to vote.

Greenwich100 is pleased to announce the venues and dates for the “Beyond the Suffragettes” exhibition, which has been put together to celebrate Greenwich’s contributions to gender equality from the 1860s to the present

VENUE

EXHIBITION ON DISPLAY DURING OPEN HOURS
(unless otherwise stated)

Woolwich Centre Library35 Wellington Street, SE18 6HQ

15 February – 15 March

On 8 March there will be an evening event focussing on the centenary of votes for women as part of the International Women’s Day

Royal Greenwich has a long and illustrious history in connection with women’s rights and gender equality.

To mark the centenary of the 1918 Act that gave all men and some women the right to vote in Parliamentary elections, we want to share information and stories about Greenwich women and men who contributed to gender equality and rights.

Women like Mabel Crout, pictured above. In 1906, Mabel got involved in local politics and went on to become one of the first women to serve on Woolwich Council (in 1919). She later served as Mayor of Woolwich and on the London County Council. In 1965, Mabel was made a Dame Commander in recognition of her long years of political and public service to South East London. Not bad for a Plumstead girl who first got involved in politics at the age of just 16!

* * * *

If you have information you’d like to share about a local event, campaign or an individual who positively contributed to gender equality in the past, please get in touch by emailing Claire Eustance at the University of Greenwich at ec03@gre.ac.uk. Or send a comment via this blog or tweet @greenwich100y